Consultation on key Leeds bus routes underway

Public consultation on plans for bus priority measures on key Leeds bus routes is now underway.

Better bus travel is an essential element of West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Council�s work to achieve inclusive economic by increasing public transport use and cutting costly congestion.�Better connectivity will also improve opportunities for onward travel across Leeds City Region and the North.

Through its Connecting Leeds initiative, Leeds City Council aims to double the current 250,000 bus trips made in the city per day within 10 years. To help achieve this, the Council is seeking people�s views on plans to introduce new infrastructure including bus priority measures on the following three key routes:

Bradford to Leeds via Stanningley, Bramley and Armley;

Alwoodley to Leeds via Moortown and Chapel Allerton;

Oakwood and Roundhay to Leeds via Harehills and St James�s Hospital.

As part of the Bradford to Leeds route, Leeds City Council is also seeking views on plans to improve Armley Gyratory to offer better traffic flows and reduce congestion.

Announcing the plans on Tuesday (20 February), Cllr Judith Blake, Leeds City Council leader, who speaks for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority on transport, said:��We are very pleased to be updating the city today with where we are on delivering the changes we need to our transporting network.

�Lots of work is going on across the city and now we need to continue the transport conversation by talking in particular about enhanced bus services and what we need to do to make bus travel faster, more efficient, reliable and cleaner.

Cllr Keith Wakefield, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said:��Improving the region�s transport network is at the heart of our ambition to generate faster growth which benefits all our communities and the exciting proposals set out today will connect people from across Leeds and beyond to job opportunities, education and services.

�Working in partnership with Leeds we have already delivered a new railway station at Kirkstall Forge and the hugely successful Elland Road and Temple Green park and ride schemes and our �1billion West Yorkshire Transport Fund is delivering a pipeline of projects across the wider City Region.�

Bus priority

The vision set out for Connecting Leeds is to transform the transport network and connectivity in Leeds and the wider region, helping to support and bring people, places, jobs, learning and leisure closer together. Under the plans, bus priority measures which have proved successful in other areas of the city would be introduced, improving bus journey times and service reliability. Available space on the road network would be maximised to improve efficiency, with enhanced cycling and walking provision also central to the plans.

The proposals are supported by Leeds� major bus operators, with First Leeds, Arriva Yorkshire and Transdev all backing the plans as part of their broader Bus18 initiative, with West Yorkshire Combined Authority to make bus travel in the region more reliable, easier to use, customer focused and better for the environment.

Chair of the Leeds transport advisory panel Nigel Foster said:��The panel have been impressed by the progress Leeds is making with its plans for transport in the city, building on the �173.5million awarded by government for investment in public transport.

�This investment is supported by a very successful and growing park and ride network, offering bus mass transit services into central Leeds.�

�Along with the major upgrades to the rail network and services, these improvements will support the continued growth of Leeds and the Leeds City Region, creating jobs and opportunities for our people and businesses.�

Connecting

Connecting Leeds forms part of the wider Leeds City Region economic plan which aims to deliver up to 35,000 new jobs and an additional �3.7billion of economic output by 2036. People can also take part in the Leeds transport conversation on Twitter at @ConnectingLeeds and through Leeds City Council�s Facebook page.